(Clip) When the Pulpit Lacks Power

Something is missing in the pulpits of America. Something is missing in many churches, and this is it. Sometimes it's best to describe what is missing in the negative, to show you what I'm talking about.

When the power of the Holy Spirit is absent in a church, absent in a pulpit, absent in a preacher, here's what happens. The sermons are lifeless and boring. We're falling asleep.

There's something stagnant and dull. The preacher lacks authority. They lack power.

They lack boldness. They're weak, and they're wavering. They just want to discuss things, and they're not real sure, and they don't want to offend, and they don't want to upset, and the spiritual power is lacking.

Also, when a pulpit is lacking the Spirit's power, they lack love and compassion. It was said of many of my favorite preachers, D.O. Moody, Whitefield, Robert Murray McShaney in Scotland, many hundreds of years ago, that they often couldn't get through a sermon without tears. That's preaching with power because it's underscored with love and compassion.

See, there's many people preaching with anger. And this is what the Bible says. But there's no compassion.

There's no love. So that's what's missing in a pastor, in a preacher, in a church without the Spirit's fire. It's lifeless.

It's boring. It's stagnant. It's dull.

They lack authority. They lack power. They lack boldness.

They're weak. They're wavering. They lack love and compassion.

And you might say, well, Shane, that's great for pastors, but what about me? And I want to submit to you this morning that the same things apply. When you lack the Spirit's power, your life is boring and lifeless. You're stagnant.

You're cold. You've grown cold to the things of God. And I actually prayed this morning whether I should say this or not.

I don't want to say it out of frustration. But when we have almost 600 families in our database and sending out and say they call this home, and we can't get three or four people to prayer in the morning, something is wrong. And I'm not saying it out of frustration.

I'm not saying it out of frustration and anger. I know God has to do it, but my heart yearns for that. I know it's difficult.

I know it's challenging. I have kids. I know how hard it is sometimes, but we've got to begin prioritizing God.

Let that be the tweeter to tweet whatever they call that thing. A tweetable quote. God has to be the priority.

Priority God. I'm going to make something up. Shirts maybe.

Priority God. And I'm just being honest. I'm being open.

I'm being transparent because it happens in my own life too. See, prayer is really the heartbeat of the church. It's the heartbeat of your life.

It's the heartbeat of your spirituality. You tell me how well and how often you pray, and I'll tell you how you're doing spiritually. We've lost this area.

But you have to preach with love and compassion as well, and you have to have love and compassion in your own hearts. And something Charles Spurgeon said many years ago that has really stuck with me, he said, I would give up ten worlds rather than preach an unfelt Christ. And I would quit today.

This would be my last sermon ever preached. I would get back into real estate if I had to preach an unfelt Christ. Just going through the motions like a social club.

I would bell out because there's no power in that. Don't miss this topic this morning, folks. I also believe that God has called me primarily to a few different things.

Preach repentance. Preach revival. Preach renewal.

Preach restoration. Preach prayer. Preach the filling of the Holy Spirit.

This is vitally important. This is why I went from cursing God and getting drunk and losing my marriage and losing so many different things to now I have to raise my arms and worship Him and adore Him. Because the Holy Spirit's power has so radically changed my life that everything is different.

I mean, you look at your finances, different. You look at your friendships, different. You look at where you go, differently.

You look at how you spend your time, differently. You look at how you raise your children, different. Everything is affected.

So that's the question this morning. Something is missing. Is something missing? I don't know.